Hearing Problems Common in Immigrants: Association With Self-Rated Health

Abstract

Aims

Immigrants face various challenges in the process of becoming established in a new country, one of which is language acquisition. A key factor for language acquisition is hearing function. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hearing problems in immigrants in comparison with the general population. Furthermore, this study aimed to explore the risk factors for hearing problems as well as the relationships between self-reported hearing and audiometry results among immigrants.

Methods

The study was based on prospectively collected audiometry data and questions from the Swedish National Health Survey regarding health and hearing problems in immigrants attending language classes for immigrants in Sweden.

Results

A total of 506 study participants were included, the mean age was 38 years, and the M:F ratio was 1:3. We found that 17% of the newcomers attending Swedish language education classes reported problems hearing a conversation and that more than half of the participants had hearing loss to some extent according to screening audiometry in this prospective cohort study. High-frequency hearing loss and worse perceived general health were the most important factors related to reporting hearing problems.

Conclusions

Compared to those of the general population, perceived hearing problems were 1.6 times more common among all immigrants and twice as common for immigrants above the age of 44. Audiometric screening should be offered to immigrants to detect hearing problems to facilitate language acquisition and social integration.

Level of Evidence: 1b.